Unions Under Attack as Their Approval Ratings Soar

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President Trump took to Twitter on Labor Day to attack AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, slamming him for his criticism of Trump’s trade deals. The AFL-CIO is the country’s largest coalition of more than 50 major unions and represents some 12.5 million American workers, from pilots to teachers.

In his tweet, Trump claimed that union workers would not only vote for him in 2020, but should dump their unions and stop paying “exorbitant” fees.

But even before Trump lashed out at Trumka, labor unions have been under attack in the United States from conservative politicians and employers alike. “Working people have been thwarted” in their attempts to unionize and collectively bargain, says a new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

“It’s been a decades-long attack on working people,” said AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler. “It’s been a slow decline from our peak in the 70’s — it’s been trailing off year after year primarily because of our broken labor laws.”